Brushing "scam" on Amazon

Marie5656

Marie5656

SF VIP
Location
Batavia, NY
Have you heard of the scam called brushing? It affects mainly Amazon. Apparently people have reported that they get unordered packages from Amazon, and have no clue how or why they got them. Amazon cannot help as there are no order numbers. I have heard of it before, but it hit local news because someone from around here has gotten several packages over the last few months. The investigative reporter guy from our local news looked into it and found it happens a lot. Mostly it is sellers from China, who ship items to unsuspecting people in the US, so it appears items have been purchased. Then seller will go to Amazon and give themselves "glowing" 5-star reviews of the item. To make it look like folks love them.
In our local case, the news station contacted UPS and the postal service and the places will tag these items and no longer ship them to the person. The vendor and address listed on the packages were all the same, and a search could not locate the actual vendor.

According to the US postal service it is not illegal, as the item has been "ordered" and the recievers credit card is not charged. And the law says you do not have to return the items.
But they still said to be cautious and report if you get packages to delivery service and Amazon, and change your email and password on Amazon. As the seller got your address some how.
Here is an article https://clark.com/scams-rip-offs/amazon-scam-brushing-warning-deliveries-you-didnt-order/
 

I can't get too concerned with this "scam." I read the article, and can't really understand what's so terrible about it. If I get free merchandise, cool. If that merchandise is illegal goods, like drugs or illegal weapons, I'll call the police and hand the same over. The article needs to provide more details, because I'm just not getting why it's so terrible. Amazon does a similar thing that I've protested for a few years: Certain "elite" members are provided with free items in return for their review. Rarely, if ever, are those reviews negative. Duh! As for someone getting my name, address and phone number: Duh, again. They're freely available, online. Again, I see no reason to worry about receiving free goods, as long as they are free, and legal. Any padded reviews that appear with my user name would be quickly deleted, by me.
 
treeguy64 said:
I can't get too concerned with this "scam." I read the article, and can't really understand what's so terrible about it. If I get free merchandise, cool. If that merchandise is illegal goods, like drugs or illegal weapons, I'll call the police and hand the same over. The article needs to provide more details, because I'm just not getting why it's so terrible. Amazon does a similar thing that I've protested for a few years: Certain "elite" members are provided with free items in return for their review. Rarely, if ever, are those reviews negative. Duh! As for someone getting my name, address and phone number: Duh, again. They're freely available, online. Again, I see no reason to worry about receiving free goods, as long as they are free, and legal. Any padded reviews that appear with my user name would be quickly deleted, by me.
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Well, I'll take issue with the "elite" member reviews. I am a "Vine Voice" on Amazon, since I started buying books from them in 1996 and have been a loyal customer since then. I am also a prolific review writer on Amazon and on all retail websites I frequent, because I find customer reviews helpful when I'm trying to decide whether to buy a product.

About 10 years ago I was contacted by Amazon and asked to join their Vine program, providing reviews for products provided to me at no charge. I always write honest reviews and if the product stinks, I say so and I say why. I've gotten some nice freebies and I've also gotten some junk.
 

C'est Moi said:
Well, I'll take issue with the "elite" member reviews. I am a "Vine Voice" on Amazon, since I started buying books from them in 1996 and have been a loyal customer since then. I am also a prolific review writer on Amazon and on all retail websites I frequent, because I find customer reviews helpful when I'm trying to decide whether to buy a product.

About 10 years ago I was contacted by Amazon and asked to join their Vine program, providing reviews for products provided to me at no charge. I always write honest reviews and if the product stinks, I say so and I say why. I've gotten some nice freebies and I've also gotten some junk.
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I'll stand by my original assertion, as above. I can't recall the last bad review I read from someone who received their product, gratis. I also have been with Amazon almost from their start, and I think providing free products, for reviews, is unethical
 
treeguy64 said:
I can't get too concerned with this "scam." I read the article, and can't really understand what's so terrible about it. If I get free merchandise, cool. If that merchandise is illegal goods, like drugs or illegal weapons, I'll call the police and hand the same over. The article needs to provide more details, because I'm just not getting why it's so terrible. Amazon does a similar thing that I've protested for a few years: Certain "elite" members are provided with free items in return for their review. Rarely, if ever, are those reviews negative. Duh! As for someone getting my name, address and phone number: Duh, again. They're freely available, online. Again, I see no reason to worry about receiving free goods, as long as they are free, and legal. Any padded reviews that appear with my user name would be quickly deleted, by me.
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I can't get very concerned about this one, either. I don't see how anybody is really hurt.
 
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